Immigration Practice News

January 2013 (Vol. 4, No. 2)

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FINANCES CONTINUED FROM 2 >>
3. What do you project will be your
firm's income over time? This is
generally referred to as forecasting
and budgeting. You should estimate
both when and how much revenue
you expect to receive for the entire
year, month by month. You may
use the previous year's financials as
a guide, as well as your knowledge
about when you often experience
highs and lows in business. For
instance, March and April is a busy
time for business immigration
attorneys filing for H-1B visas, while
December can be a slow month due
to the holidays.
4. What do you project will be your
firm's expenses over time? You
should budget your firm's expenses
for the entire year by month. Pay
attention to times when your firm's
expenses will be high but revenues
will be low, and plan in advance for
this situation. You may also want to
budget for additional help during
your busiest time to prevent burnout or missed opportunities.
Year after year, I have watched law
firms take these straightforward steps
to improve their firm's results by 35%
to 75%. When done consistently,
business financial performance can
continue to improve annually. So this
year, take a day to review your firm's
financials, ask some new questions,
and plan for a profitable and abundant
business year!
Simone Bachaud of Knowledge
Integration Solutions provides tax
planning and management advisory
services to businesses.
Resolve To Revamp Your Employee Performance Reviews
by Kirby Gamblin Joseph
E
mployee reviews can be stressful. Not only can
they be nerve racking for an employee, employers
are frequently equally anxious. Apprehension can
develop surrounding how to best conduct a review.
An effective employee review should accurately reflect
what has happened over the past year, provide insight
into the strengths of an employee's performance and
contributions, and provide meaningful suggestions on
areas for improvement.
There are some recommended techniques to
incorporate into a law firm practice that will help
reduce the anxiety associated with employee reviews.
In essence, these recommendations involve conducting
a complete 360º review, which includes regular reliable
reviews, obtaining the employee's perspective on
his/her performance and contributions throughout
the year, obtaining feedback from the employee on
his/her impressions of the firm and areas for firm
improvement, obtaining and communicating feedback
from other staff members regarding the employee
in a confidential manner, and providing honest and
constructive recommendations for the upcoming year.
Regular and reliable reviews are imperative to
employee morale. Employees like feedback, both
positive and constructive, and they like to know
when they will receive that feedback. Firms must
determine when and how often to conduct employee
performance reviews and should clearly communicate
this information to employees at the beginning of an
employment relationship. While some firms review
all employees at the same time every year, other
firms opt to review their employees throughout the
year based on each employee's start date. Money and
time are factors to consider when deciding when to
conduct employee reviews. The financial impact of
giving raises to all staff members at the same time
every year versus allotting pay increases over the year
can play an important role in determining the best
time for preparing reviews. In addition, a firm should
also consider whether it has the resources to prepare
numerous reviews at the same time as opposed to
spreading the work out throughout the year.
There may also be benefits to having reviews more
frequently than once per year—consider holding less
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